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5 Tips For An Award-Winning Magazine

In less than one week, two editors of award-winning magazines are giving a free ASBPE webinar to take you behind the scenes of an AZBEE Magazine of the Year. Kim Kleman is editor of The American Lawyer and Jim McKay is editor of Emergency Management. Here are their top 5 tips for getting the gold. Be sure to tune in next Tuesday, Nov. 1, for more of their expert wisdom

It all starts with good writing.
Whether you’re leaning on a stable of carefully picked freelancers like McKay, or can pull from a cross-topic team of more than 150 writers and editors like Kleman — the writing really counts. Good writers will make your job as an editor easy, McKay said. And Kleman noticed that when writer collaborate on a team, not only are they more engaged, but their content is more engaging, too. Which is tip No. 2.

Engage your audience.
McKay said Emergency Management’s audience is just “really into it.” It’s a niche audience, but it’s a large one, and the topic is by nature engaging. For Kleman, knowing writers are constantly engaging with readers is a top priority. “That’s obviously the best way to get story ideas.”

Think about platform.
Story ideas don’t just lead to features, Kleman said. They help shape the entire magazine — great B2B stories turn into packages that help readers solve problems and give them information they need to know in their fields.

Give gold to get the gold.
It may start with gold-standard writing, but it bleeds into everything at the publication. “My strong belief is that the best way to stay in business is to give your readers gold content,” Kleman said. It has to be content they just can’t get anywhere else.

Don’t skimp on the cover.
Emergencies may lend themselves to naturally interesting visuals, but not all industries are so lucky. Lawyers in suits? Kleman is the first to admit that can get a little boring. Get creative, think conceptually, and make readers want to open the magazine.

Learn more about what happens behind the scenes at these award-winning magazines during next week’s free webinar. Register here.